The Patriarchate of Constantinople is completing to build an Orthodox church structure in Lithuania, one of its clergymen said on Wednesday.
The so-called exarchate will be established in Lithuania under conciliar law after the Justinus Kiviloo, the appointed head from Estonia, arrives in Lithuania, said priest Gintaras Sungaila said.
“With his arrival, the formation of the church structure in Lithuania will be completed,” Sungaila told BNS.
The initiative to set up a church structure under the Patriarchate of Constantinople arose after some members of Lithuania’s Orthodox Christian community left due to Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“With the canonical side of the matter settled, we are now going to register as a religious community under secular law,” he added.
Kiviloo will arrive in Lithuania on Friday and will conduct a service on Saturday.
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who visited Lithuania last March, announced his intention to establish a church structure in Lithuania.
The move to set up such a body follows the Patriarch’s reinstatement of five former priests of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Lithuania, which is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, who were expelled last year by Metropolitan Innokentiy.
The Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese accused the priests of canonical offences. However, Constantinople then ruled that the priests were not removed for violating church rules but for their stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The exarchate in Lithuania will include ten clergymen and ten communities in different towns across the country.
Orthodox Christians are the second biggest religious community in Lithuania, comprising some 3.75 percent of the population, according to the 2021 census.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
